ASUU President, Osodeke Backs NANS Protests

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September 20, 2022

The Academic Staff Union of Universities on Monday dismissed resumption notices by University authorities directing students to appear for lectures amidst the seven months old strike.

The union said its strike remain unshakeable as those institutions were still under lock and key.

The Vice President of ASUU and its former branch chairman at the University of Jos, Dr. Chris Piwuna, said these in an interview with The Punch.

He was reacting to the announcement by Public Relations Officer of Imo State University, Owerri, Ralph Njoku, that it had pulled out of the ASUU nationwide strike and consequently asked its students and staff members to resume school on Tuesday, September 20.

According to him, IMSU had decided to pull out of the lingering strike in the interest of the students and staff of the institution.

“Yes. It is true. We have asked students to resume immediately. Lectures start on Tuesday. We are doing this in the best interest of our students and staff. We are not only pulling out of the ASUU strike but also asking everyone to return to school”, he said.

But Piwuna mocked the Universities saying ASUU would remain unshaken.

He said, “I don’t know why these people will never learn their lesson. Is the PRO of the University a member of our union? Does he have the mandate to speak for our members? Did we consult with him or his VC (Vice Chancellor) before we embarked on the action? They are incurable interlopers.

“Let us hear from our branch chairperson. Let them not waste the time of our students and parents.

“They said the same thing about Gombe State University, Yobe State University, Kaduna State University, and the rest. Those institutions are still under lock and key. Our strike is unshakeable.

“Our members remain resilient and single-minded about our overall goal to rescue our public Universities from the clutches of the neo-liberal, neo-colonialist.”

ASUU: Imo Varsity Pulls Out, Opens for Academic Session

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September 20, 2022

The management of the Imo state university, IMSU, on Monday pulled out from the almost ongoing seven months strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, and announced that it has opened the university for academic activities.

The management made this known to newsmen in Owerri, through the IMSU, Public Relations Officer, PRO, Ralph Njoku.

According to him, it was the decision taken by the management that should they continue to delay that the school would lose so many students who are desirous of education especially applicants who were yet to be matriculated.

However, he said that the school has no issue with ASSU and that the decision was to prevent any action to shortchange the next generation.

According to him, “The management has decided to open the university for academic activities. We don’t have any issue with ASUU we just open the school for academic activities. Lecturers who are willing will now come to start lecturing.

“We decided that we don’t want to shortchange our next generation. Just like the 2022 applicants, we have not even matriculated them and we are coming up with 2022/2023 if we keep delaying we will lose so many people who are desirous of University education. So, we felt it is time to hold the bull by the horn.”

JAMB Conducts Supplementary 2022 UTME For 67 Candidates

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September 19, 2022

The Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has set Saturday, September 24, 2022, as the date for 67 candidates who registered for the 2022 UTME but were unable to take the exam or the recently concluded Mop-Up UTME due to a variety of difficulties, to take their examination at specially designated centers.

It would be recalled that after the 2022 UTME, the Board had reviewed the entire exercise and those candidates with biometric challenges were given the opportunity of sitting a mop-up examination.

JAMB Head, of Public Affairs and Protocol, Fabian Benjamin, who disclosed this on sunday, also announced that since the conduct of a mop-up examination is a stopgap measure, it would not be allowed to be a permanent feature of its calendar.

“Therefore, any candidate presenting any strange challenge(s) would have to indicate or declare such peculiarities at the point of registration for them to be given special consideration and allocated to centres within its National Headquarters, Abuja, for close monitoring as the Board had phased out the conduct of mop-up examinations.

“However, in spite of the discovery of a series of suspicious challenges presented by some candidates, the Board has, on account of its avowed commitment to equity and fairness, scheduled another set of 67 candidates to sit the examination at designated centres, under close scrutiny of the Board.

He noted that the decision to give the candidates the unusual opportunity is to ensure that no single innocent candidate is punished unjustly.

“These 67 candidates are, therefore, urged to print their supplementary examination notification slips from Monday, 19th September 2022, to know the centres where they would be sitting the examination.

NANS’ Protest: Sowore Joins At Lagos Airport

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September 19, 2022

The presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, Omoyele Sowore, has, Monday, joined Nigerian students in protest at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.

Sowore, while at the protest, said it was important for the students to intensify their action saying, “this is your struggle.”

The students, who seemed happy to see Sowore at their protest, cheered him and allowed him to address them.

“I am a comrade and I remain a comrade forever, anything you need from us, let us know, but this is your struggle.

“Nigerian students delivered independence to Nigeria in 1960, after this, they hijacked it and started using it against us. Nigerian students delivered the democracy we have today in in 1999, but when they flog people, it is the same us that they flog,” Sowore said.

He urged drivers, traders and well-meaning Nigerians to support the students’ struggle.

The students, under the aegis of the National Association of Nigerian Students, are protesting the prolonged strike action of the Academic Staff Union of Universities.

The students held banners bearing inscriptions such as: “No nation can develop without genuine commitment to education,” and “If you have money for election form, you can fund education.”

They caused traffic around the airport amid the presence of a combined team of officers the Lagos State Police Command, Rapid Response Squad, Lagos Airport Police Command, and other security agencies.

Strike: NANS Protests at Lagos Airport Amid Heavy Security

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September 19, 2022

Nigerian university students under the aegis of National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) on Monday lived up to their threat by carrying their protest against the lingering strike of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.

The students blocked vehicular movement from the tollgate, which is the road that links international and cargo terminals to the domestic terminal, thus paralyzing the flow of traffic.

The students’ mass action is in continuation of their protest against the ongoing industrial action.

Already travellers, airport users and motorists using the Ajao Estate link road to the international airport were stranded as the students blocked all roads leading to the airport.

The international airport is currently blocked to traffic, including air travellers who wish to catch their flights.

The students blocked the way to the terminal with their vehicles, singing solidarity songs.

They took siege at the area as early as 7:00 am on Monday.

Students carried placards and chanting songs showing their grievances concerning the on-going strike.

Security personnel, including the Nigerian police officers were stationed strategically around the area the students were protesting but without any effort to stop them.

The protest was peaceful and the security operatives present did not interrupt the students’ activities.

Damage Assessments Begin In Flooded Remote Alaska villages

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September 19, 2022

Authorities started making contact with some of the most remote villages in the United States on Monday to determine the need for food and water and assess damage from a massive weekend storm that flooded communities dotting Alaska’s vast western coast.

No one has been reported injured or killed during the massive storm — the remnants of Typhoon Merbok — as it traveled north through the Bering Strait over the weekend. However, damage to homes, roads and other infrastructure was only starting to be revealed as floodwaters recede.

About 21,000 residents living in the small communities dotting a 1,000-mile (1,609-kilometer) stretch of Alaska’s western coastline — a distance longer than the entire length of the California coastline – were impacted by the storm.

Many homes throughout the region were flooded, and some were knocked off their foundations by the rushing waters propelled by strong winds. Officials were starting the process of determining damage to roads, ports, seawalls and water and sewage systems.

The state transportation department said most airports in the area were open, and officials were making either temporary or permanent repairs to the runways that still have issues, said Jeremy Zidek, a spokesperson for the Alaska Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.

Blue Origin Rocket: Congressional Leaders Probe Failure

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September 19, 2022

The failure of a Blue Origin rocket during an uncrewed launch this month has members of Congress urging for more transparency of the FAA’s investigation into the accident.

One of Blue Origin’s New Shepard rockets was destroyed in a failed launch on Sept. 12 during while carrying an uncrewed capsule on the NS-23 science flight from the company’s West Texas launch site.

An abort system separated the capsule from the doomed booster as designed, allowing it to parachute back to Earth.

Blue Origin has not released any details of the accident’s cause nor has the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which is investigating the failure.

On Sept. 15, Congressional leaders of the House Science Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics issued a letter(opens in new tab) calling for more transparency from the FAA since Blue Origin is also using its New Shepard rockets to launch passengers on suborbital trips.

In their letter, Beyer and Babin said they and other subcommittee members take their oversight role on commercial spaceflight seriously.

“To that end, we request that the Associate Administrator of the FAA Office of Commercial Space Transportation keep the Members of the Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics apprised of the plans and timetable for the NS-23 anomaly investigation, the root cause of the failure once determined, and plans to ensure that actions to address the root cause or causes are completed,” they wrote. They also called for a briefing to the subcommittee within 10 days of the letter, which would be Sept. 25.

The failed NS-23 New Shepard launch was Blue Origin’s 23rd mission and the second in-flight anomaly since flight began in 2015.

The first anomaly occurred in 2015, when the New Shepard booster crashed instead of landing, but its uncrewed capsule successfully reached suborbital space and returned safely.

Queen Elizabeth II’s Funeral: Earth-imaging Satellites Capture Crowd

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September 19, 2022

Earth-imaging satellites have spied the massive crowds that gathered in London for the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.

Images taken by the WorldView-3 satellite operated by Colorado-based satellite company Maxar Technologies on Saturday (Sept. 17) show hundreds of thousands of mourners queueing up to pay their respects to the late Queen, who passed away at the age of 96 on Sept. 8.

In the images, crowds can be seen waiting patiently in ‘The Queue,’ which stretched over 10 miles (16 kilometers), snaking alongside famous London landmarks such as the Eye of London, Buckingham Palace and the Palace of Westminster, the seat of England’s parliament.

A line of mourners snakes along a path beside the Eye of London, an observation wheel on the South Bank of the River Thames in London on Saturday, Sept. 17, 2022.

Big Ben can be seen at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London as mourners stretch across Westminster Bridge as they wait to pay respects to Queen Elizabeth II on Saturday, Sept. 17, 2022.

Emotional outpourings from NASA, other space agencies and leading figures in the space community followed the news of the Queen’s passing. “Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s influence reached all corners of the world, and we are so fortunate that we had the privilege of hosting her visit to @NASA_Johnson. We join the planet in honoring her memory,” officials from NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston wrote on Twitter(opens in new tab) on Sept. 8.

“ESA is saddened by the passing of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. Her Majesty witnessed the dawn of the space age, meeting astronauts from Neil Armstrong to Britain’s own Tim Peake, who gifted her with the Union Flag patch from his spacewalk during the Principia mission,” the European Space Agency tweeted the same day(opens in new tab).

As NASA’s official Twitter account pointed out on the day of her passing, Queen Elizabeth II was crowned before the launch of Sputnik kicked off the era of spaceflight in earnest.

In September 1969, Queen Elizabeth welcomed Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins to Buckingham Palace to celebrate the mission’s successful landing on the moon.

Beautiful Nigeria: Oban Hills, Cross River State, Nigeria

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September 19, 2022